Ferrero to buy WK Kellogg in candy-meets-cereal deal

Miami Herald

5 days ago

Ferrero, the Italian candy maker, has agreed to acquire WK Kellogg, the American cereal giant, in a deal valued at $3.1 billion, the companies announced Thursday.
The takeover would combine Ferrero, a family-owned company that makes Tic Tacs, Ferrero Rocher candies and Nutella spreads, with the producer of Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Rice Krispies and other cereals. It represents Ferrero's latest push to grow its business in North America following a series of acquisitions in recent years, including buying Nestlé's U.S. confectionery business in 2018.
The deal would expand Ferrero's presence in North America and help the company move beyond its candy and snack offerings, Lapo Civiletti, the CEO of the Italian group, said in a statement.
Shares of WK Kellogg surged 30% in early trading, rising to just below the acquisition price agreed to by the companies.
Merger activity in the food sector has been slow this year as President Donald Trump's volatile trade policy has created uncertainty for company executives and unsettled consumers, according to investment banking firm Capstone Partners.
Shoppers, faced with nearly two years of significant price increases for cereals, snacks and other foods at grocery stores, have either cut back or switched to less expensive, private-label store brands.
WK Kellogg reported a slump in sales in its first quarter this year because of the 'weaker than expected consumption trends.' The company said sales for the full year would be lower than previously expected, falling as much as 3%. In preliminary results released Thursday, WK Kellogg said it expects sales for the second quarter, which ended June 28, to land between $610 million and $615 million, a decline from the same period last year.
The combination with Ferrero would give WK Kellogg 'greater resources and more flexibility to grow our iconic brands in this competitive and dynamic market,' Gary Pilnick, CEO of WK Kellogg, said in a statement.
WK Kellogg was created in 2023 when the Kellogg Co. spun it off as an independent company. The larger remaining business, which focused on snacks such as Pringles and Cheez-It, was renamed Kellanova.
Mars, the company behind M&M's and Snickers, agreed last year to acquire Kellanova in a deal valued at $35.9 billion.
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission approved that deal -- a signal that the Trump administration's antitrust regulators might take a less aggressive approach to merger enforcement than their Biden administration predecessors. The timing of Ferrero's latest U.S. acquisition is 'likely based on a struggling share price for WK Kellogg and the FTC's approval without conditions of Mars' acquisition of Kellanova,' said Brad Haller, a senior partner at West Monroe.
The Kellanova deal is still facing antitrust review in Europe.
This isn't the first deal between Ferrero and Kellogg. Before the spinoff, Ferrero in 2019 acquired the Kellogg Co.'s Keebler cookie brand, Famous Amos cookies, the Kellogg fruit snacks business, and Little Brownie Bakers, the supplier of Girl Scouts cookies.
Ferrero's current deal for WK Kellogg is 'relatively small,' meaning it is less likely to face significant regulatory hurdles, said Philip Howard, a professor at Michigan State University, who studies concentration in the food system. 'Since Ferrero is dominant in candy but not breakfast cereal, it probably won't be challenged by regulators in the U.S. or EU,' he added.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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